Monday, May 3, 2010

The Book of Revelation

I have been studying the Book of Revelation, with a group of women in a Bible Study class. This morning we were reading Scriptures, along with commentary and making our own observations as well (God's word is "living and active".....) when I was struck by a few of the verses from this apocalyptic writing, that seem to be unfolding before our very eyes. And I wasn't the only one present who got that impression. 
I'm deeply saddened, as millions of people are, about the environmental catastrophe unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, because of the drilling platform that blew up on April 20th, causing a massive oil spill. There has been loss of human life, which is so sad and in addition, wildlife such as birds, fish, and ocean creatures are dying. Fishermen are losing their livelihoods as well. It's a terrible disaster, that is still not until control.  I, for one, am praying that the experts are able to stop this as soon as possible. I'm also praying and hoping that the experts learn from their mistakes so that this never happens again. 
Getting back to the Book of Revelation, some of the women noted, myself included, that some of the verses we were reading seemed to be a prophecy, that unfortunately was unfolding in the Gulf. Perhaps it's coincidental, perhaps not. For instance from Chapter 15, this verse made me wonder, "Then I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire" (Rev. 15:2). At the start of the oil spill there was an attempt by the Coast Guard to try to burn off part of the spill with a controlled fire. I saw the video at cnn.com of that attempt. It looks like a sea of blue-green 'glass' mingled with fire. It unnerved me!
As you can imagine, the Bible Study class on the Book of Revelation is never dull. The writings are not meant to be taken literally but who knows? As I've mentioned to the other women, after reading apocalyptic writings on a Monday morning, our week can only go up from there.
NJA

Then the angel said to me, 'Write this: Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.'  And he said to me, 'These words are true; they come from God.'  (Rev. 19:9)